Why we stopped quoting per-device prices below twenty-five seats

Last summer we stopped writing developer-workstation quotes below twenty-five seats. The reason is unglamorous: the per-unit operations cost — image lineage, loaner inventory, swap logistics — does not amortise cleanly under that headcount, and the customer ends up paying for overhead that delivers no marginal benefit.

In the six months since, three things happened. We lost two opportunities outright (both told us politely they understood). Eleven smaller customers we would have served via a discount stayed on a non-managed arrangement that genuinely fits their stage. And our average tenure inside the developer-workstation cohort moved from twenty-two months to twenty-eight, because the customers who do sign now have the operational density to actually use the plan.

The lesson, if there is one, is that price floors are easier to defend than discount slopes — and customers tend to respect the honesty more than the saving.

We still occasionally make exceptions for a high-trust founder-led team that we know will scale through twenty-five seats inside a year. But the rule itself stays in writing.